If Only
by MasterofPokemon101
Summary: In a Pokemon world where problems do exist, Finn Irving struggles to stay hidden after escaping to Johto from Kanto. He finds comfort in a runaway Pokemon that he finds off the coast of Azalea Town-something that no one's ever heard of. After boarding a ship out of Johto, a whole other set of problems create themselves from thin air. If only he knew...
1. Prologue

**This is my new story**

**Its super coo-ol**

**I hope you like it**

**As you sit on a stoo-ol**

**It just needs a rap... Oh, hey. What do you think of my song? What? You don't like my awesome theme song? What if the rap was super cool though?**

**...**

**Fine. I'll try harder next time. Enjoy... I guess :(**

Prologue

A burst of cold water shot from the air duct, quickly filling the room.

"You said that this was the only room that was sealed!" a man in a blue hat with a white logo said. He had bark brown hair up to his ear lobes. The logo resembled a bloated letter A with an oval center instead of a triangle one. He looked a little smug most of the time, but a worried look painted his face at the moment.

He climbed on a chair and used a whole circle of duct tape to seal the air duct.

A woman wearing a large white coat, known mostly as a professor's coat, and sporting a navy blue ponytail and glasses quickly flung off her glasses.

"Oh please, you pesky idiots. It was too easy to get past you guys as an undersea exploration professor." She sliced the hairband keeping her ponytail firm with her long, blood red fingernails. It dropped to the ground rather loudly for a hairband, until metal appeared from the sides and started to envelope it. Tiny holes formed along the sides of the now metal hairband. An orangish-white mist bulleted out of the holes.

"Team Magma!" another of the blue-hatted grunts exclaimed, but through coughs. She had short reddish-brown hair and was wearing a smaller blue hat. "I thought that this feud was over! Rayquaza put Kyogre and Groudon into a sleep that is impossible to break! There is no reason why we should still be enemies!"

"That's what Rayquaza wanted us to think. Team Magma doesn't give up that easily!" The grunt shoved an air capsule into her mouth and threw off her professor coat. She pressed a button on her black dress. By then, the mist that escaped the metal hairband had made the other grunts loopy.

A flotation device erupted from under the upper dress. "So you have to prove a point by drowning our research facility and, well, _us_! You're sick, Magma. Get over yourselves, because forcing Groudon into creating more land will only be helping you! You'd be killing all wild sea Pokemon and plants, and on top of that, a lot of species of plants and Pokemon we haven't discovered yet! The cure for The Cold and Pneumonia may be in the ocean. The ocean is the biggest source of, well, _everything_," the third and final survivor of the blue-hatted grunts yelled angrily. She had long red hair with scarlet highlights. Her anger seemed to overpower the sleeping mist.

"Well, Team Aqua," a muffled Magma grunt voice said through the air capsule, "it's a bad idea to create an _underwater_ facility with so many enemies." The angriest Aqua grunt finally fell into the waist-deep water.

At the moment, water burst from the door and into the room. The Magma grunt instantly floated to the top of the room, which Team Aqua designed as a glass ceiling to observe water Pokemon. Just as she stabbed the glass, she caught the smallest hint of a Pokemon in the hallway. It had a red dot in the frontal area of its body, along with beige-colored cloud-shaped areas on its dark brown body. A powerful aura just seemed to radiate off of it. "Is that a Reli-"

The glass ceiling broke into a billion shards of sharp edges and giant knifes. They rained upon the Magma grunt, slicing her skin.

The pressure was menacing, despite the fact that air wasn't 20 yards away; more like 16. It almost seemed like something was forcing this pressure on her.

She floated up halfway with the flotation device, but something gripped her leg and started to pull her back to the broken-down base. The device was powerful and to act against it was nearly impossible for any human or Pokemon.

She looked down to see her attacker, horrified at the sight. A Tentacool, probably thinking her for a fresh catch, stared into the grunt's eyes. Its own eyes were ominous-a light blue.

Another Tentacool came from what seemed like nowhere. Its eyes were yellow. A red-eyed Tentacool appeared next to the yellow-eyed one.

_What the _hell_ is going on? _The Magma grunt kicked the blue-eyed jellyfish in the face, but not before checking her air capsule. Two more minutes.

She floated up to the surface slowly, not understanding the circumstance. The device should be working, yet it's not.

The grunt examined the float. Nothing seemed to... _Uh oh_. she thought. One of the Tentacool, who were all far under her by now, shot an Acid Spray straight into the device. It was slowly deflating.

Something touched her shoe. Another brushed past her leg. She started to swim to the surface, but her experience was limited. She only took one class for swimming when she was six, something that she didn't like and didn't remember.

Something burned her leg. Even in the water is seemed as if the Acid was digging through her leg and to the other side, yet she knew that it had already dissipated in the water.

_Wait,_ something broke through to her. _Those Tentacool don't look very old, yet they know Acid and Acid Spray, high-level moves for Tentacool. Team Aqua was b-_

A Tentacool seemed to spin around and knock into her leg. She struggled to get up to the surface, knowing that with an unlimited amount of oxygen she could easily overpower them. It hit her like water on a hot day. She threw her air capsule into the water and reached for the waterproof walkie-talkie in her pocket.

"No need to call," a voice said confidently behind her. She turned to see a boat with only one person on it. It was a very small boat; it wasn't even possible to fit a third person after the rescuer helped the escapee on.

**BREAK**

After the rescuer helped her with a blanket folded to be the size of his hand, they sat down on the boat together.

"So are you new? I haven't seen you before," the lady grunt asked without any emotion.

"Yeah..." he replied. She didn't seem very enthusiastic about blowing up the enemies' base, even if it did kill a few people. The base was connected to a secret facility off the coast of Lilycove City, meaning that most Aqua members could retreat in time, while some were trapped in the maze. This also meant that shore wasn't far away. "Are you okay? We finally did it! I mean, I've only been on the job for two weeks, but you've been on Team Magma for a-"

"Blowing up the underwater base wasn't our plan," she cut in. The new grunt tried to understand.

"Is there another group that we don't know about yet? Who could've done that-no, who _would've_ done that?!"

"Not who, newbie. _What_. The damages weren't by human-made objects or ideas. It was like the pressure was rising down there, yet the base is barely 50 feet under the water."

The newbie kept trying to understand, but it wouldn't break through to him like his accomplice. "But Pokemon aren't _that_ powerf-"

She rose in anger. "That's what they make us think! Slowpoke become super-smart after a bite on the head, Doduo grow another head with a whole other brain and thoughts. They've had years to perfect evolution, kid! Magikarp evolve into freaking _Gyarados_!

"I've known for a while now, but I just can't accept it. Pokemon don't seem to be strong. I mean, they let humans rule the world. Why? Why do that? They could easily kill us all!"

The grunt looked up at her. "Are you saying what I just very recently thought of?"

She sat back down. "There were three Tentacool down there harassing me as I floated up. One had blue eyes, another had red eyes, and the third one had yellow eyes. Tentacool eyes are naturally a beady black color. This means that they're respective fathers had blue eyes, red eyes, and yellow eyes.

"It is impossible for these kind of things to pass down through Pokemon. _All_ Tentacool and Tentacruel, well, since for_ever_, have had beady black eyes.

"This means that they were cross-breeding. It's like breeding a Charmander and a Dratini; they're different species but in the same egg group. This kind of stuff was discovered by us only recently. Like, 20 years ago. But recent studies show that cross-breeding is as old as regular species-breeding, which is why you've probably heard of Egg Moves. They're Pokemon Moves that aren't normally learnt by the Pokemon itself by leveling-up. Other species of Pokemon pass the moves through fatherhood.

"So what does that mean for us?" the newbie asked, now into the topic as deep as his new friend. She threw the blanket back to him and moved her feet around in the water.

"It means that they did something highly unnatural, breeding Pokemon to make them look different. This also means that Pokemon, as a group, are evolving. They wouldn't let me into the secret that is their cross-breeding plan, but I had my suspicions." The escapee tried to describe everything to him before they hit land. "This means that they are either forcing Pokemon, as a whole, to evolve into passing these genetics, or they learned of this evolution before anyone else did and it's all natural."

"So what about the attack on the base?" he asked, still not quite getting the memo.

"Well, idiot," she said. "If someone were to take most of your children to force breed them into having Eggs with other species, wouldn't you do something?"

The newbie was completely quiet. "I won't ever see Pokemon the same." A picture of a Tentacool winking at a Squirtle appeared in his head. He couldn't move a muscle, too in shock.

"It's okay," she replied. The boat docked on sand. She jumped off to help push the other half of the tiny boat onto the sand. "The two Pokemon you're thinking of probably aren't even in the same Egg Group."

"Ha-ha." He chuckled and joined his friend.

**And thus, the Prologue was over. What, you don't like my regal voice either? Oh right, you can't hear me.**

**...**

**I just realized that I'm acting like the host of something. So, to put the cherry on top of a whipped Starbucks... STAY TUNED!**


	2. Chapter 1

**I realized how crazy I was acting during the Prologue, so I'm gonna be totally calm. I hope you liked the Prologue, and here is Chapter 1!**

Chapter 1

"_Ripples on the waves_

_Battles on the brain_

_Can you ease my mind?_

_Can you feel the strain?_

"_Carry me across the sea_

_Carry me to days gone by_

_Let me feel what I felt then _

_Let old passions fly_

"_Love the ones you have lost_

_Love the times you knew _

_But new life has come along and _

_It needs your love too_

"_Rippling waves will bring me home_

_Back to where life starts_

_Rippling waves will bring with me_

_My beloveds' heart_

"_Rippling waves, rippling waves _

_Rippling waves of love"_

The group of carolers finally finish "Boy and his Lapras". It was considered a heartwarming song that they sang around their 7th gym leader's birthday, Pryce.

_Thank the lord Mew_. The teen starts to walk away from the combination of carolers and townspeople. While the voices of the carolers weren't totally terrible, uplifting songs just make him sick. It reminds him too much of Kanto, the region next door that he was born in. Carolers bombarded the streets of Fuchsia City much like the presentation he just witnessed in Azalea Town.

He passes by a kid and shoves him a little. The younger kid gets the idea and they walk over to Slowpoke Well.

"What do you want at this hour? It's our leader Pryce's birthday, ease up a bit!" the kid says.

"Your leader, not mine. My seventh gym in Kanto belongs to Blaine, a different old guy. He had to relocate to the Seafoam Islands because of a huge eruption there a few years ago. Now are we done with facts? I want an Apricorn Box," the teen replies straight-up.

"I told you earlier this week, man. My stock doesn't come in until Thursday!" the kid says, being as laid-back as someone could.

"I offered three gold Pokedollars! As rare as those get, it's enough to buy me a whole team of Pokemon!" He was really getting ticked off; the dealer guaranteed him anything he wanted for enough money. "In fact, one gold Pokedollar could buy me _five_ Apricorn Boxes."

"We can talk tomorrow, Finn," the younger one says. He starts to walk away.

"You're a fraud, kid! A fraud!" Finn yells at him.

_I can't rely on anyone in this messed-up hellhole._

Finn walks around the big crowd around the gym. Bugsy's voice could be heard just through the conversation and light singing.

"... and that's how the Caterpie fit through Pryce's gym door!"

Finn shakes his head as even the carolers stop singing to laugh.

"And finally to begin the Azalea Town Bug Contest! First prize gets a set of pristine Ultra Balls, ten silver Pokedollars, and a Pokemon Egg bred at the Daycare Center nearby holding a bug-type Pokemon!" The leader takes out a whistle from his shorts the shape of a Slowpoke. After a noiseless blow, four Slowpoke appear from behind Finn.

"Slow!" one of them shouts. It whips Finn off their path with its tail. _Bunch of Slowpoke bullies._

On a royally made scarlet cushion lays a pale purple Egg with a yellow spot near the top. As stupid as Finn finds Bugsy, not even he could leave a bare Egg on a cushion.

A puffy egg-white pillow lay inside a cylindrical glass case. It seems to Finn as comfortable, but being a claustrophobe didn't help the small and compact part. A golden lid holds an odd Pokeball it its holder.

"Oooooh!" the kids cheer.

"Aaaah!" the adults cheer.

Bugsy intercepts the crowd's admiration. "Kurt has recently created a new type of Pokeball called the Bug Ball! As cheesy as the name is, it was on such short notice. It is skilled in catching any type of bug Pokemon and will only hold them. We hope to improve on this, but the prototype is right before your eyes! The winner will get to hold their hatched Pokemon in that ball!"

The four Slowpoke stop at Bugsy after cutting through the crowd. Some of the kids reach for it in an attempt to feel the cushion.

"Now down to the deep stuff. As you all know, we only host these competitions when new rules are being placed in the Universal Laws," says Bugsy, piquing Finn's interest. "Last time the curfew of 8 PM to 7 AM was placed. The new rule is as said: All trainers must have a Trainer Card with picture, Trainer ID, and parts of their birth certificate to legally train and journey with Pokemon.

"But now on to the fun stuff! If anyone would like to join in now, they are welcome."

After a short period of silence, except for the shuffling of feet up to the gym door, a single voice calls out from the crowd.

"Me!" Finn runs up to Bugsy. His acting isn't totally up to date, but a young, hurried teen passing through towns is his usual. "I would like to enter! My name is Clark."

"Just Clark?" one of the bug enthusiasts asks from the little line up front. "What a loser," he whispers to his friend.

_He's calling _me_ a loser? These guys are full of themselves._ Finn smiles politely and joins the line. The line has seven people, including him.

"Okay, Clark. Now, the first challenge is questions. First question: Name all the bug Pokemon evolutionary lines you can catch on routes 30-33 plus Ilex Forest."

This question was easy for him. With an advanced education back in Kanto, Finn easily answered the questions. One of the contestants, Gordon, got ruled out because he didn't even list _one_ bug Pokemon, just water Pokemon. Finn mostly copied from Wade, who would've won the round if he said "Paras", not "Palas". "Caterpie, Weedle, Spinarak, Pineco, Ledyba, Heracross, and _Paras_," Finn had said.

The second question was slightly harder than the last. "Name all the evolutions of your given Pokemon." Bugsy picked cards from a bug-catching net to assign Pokemon to each person. Finn only started to listen when Bugsy said, "Clark and Weedle."

By the time it was his turn to speak, the hiker Anthony had gotten ruled out because he didn't know that Pineco evolved into Forretress. "Its basic form is Weedle, obviously, then Kakuna, then Beedrill."

The only truly messed up part about the competition was Bugsy's affection for Liz, the only girl ever, as Bugsy stated, to join the competition. He covered her mistake of Heracross's line by saying, "Sometimes, as none of you may know, Pinsir _do_ evolve into Heracross." It was a very unconvincing lie, but the people listened to Bugsy no matter what.

The third and final question was actually an easy one. "Name one _attacking_ bug-type Pokemon move." The bug catcher Don was ruled out because he said String Shot, a move to lower the foe's speed.

Wade said, "Leech Life," very smugly. _Easiest way to win, jerk,_ Finn thought. After Bug Bite and U-turn were taken by Albert and Liz, respectively, Finn was forced upon Beedrill's signature attack Twineedle.

At the end of Round 1, Finn had the most points with three. Wade and Albert had two points, winning only the second and third questions. Liz had one point because even in Bugsy's attraction, he couldn't totally cheat by giving her a point she didn't deserve.

After the first round, Bugsy reset all of the points. Round 2 is where all the fun is at, though. "Battle time!"

Bugsy appears from his gym carrying four Pokeballs. Each one has a bug Pokemon that the competitors were assigned to. Bugsy throws a Pokeball with a Weedle peering through the translucent top at Finn.

_No. Freaking. Way. Is he gonna make me battle with a stupid little Weedle? Just because some hat decided for me? _Finn looks over at Liz. Her Heracross flexes its thick arms through the Pokeball top.

"When I open these doors, everyone will calmly walk inside my gym and watch as the four trainers fight. Pairings are: Liz versus Wade and Albert versus Clark," Bugsy explains.

Finn looks at Albert. A Ledyba smiles through the Pokeball. _Easy. Poison it and keep using String Shot._

Azalea Town's residents walk into the bug gym and fill the lobby. "Just wait a sec as the battlers get ready," the gym leader prompts. "Hurry, guys-and girl," a wink at Liz, "go set up."

Finn walks with Albert. "Sorry, Clark, but your Weedle is dead meat. Ledyba knows Comet Punch."

_Shit! _Finn thought that all the Pokemon around the gym were weak since his Pokeball held a Weedle, not a Beedrill.

Finn watches the room fill with spectators. "On your marks!" Bugsy exclaims. "Start!"

"Ledyba, go!" Albert screams at the top of his lungs.

"Weedle," Finn says hopefully, "I choose you!"

He zones out on everything else. Loud cheers turn into quiet whispers yards away. "String Shot!" he calls.

A thin, silky white string shoots from under Weedle's nose. It keeps Albert's Ledyba stuck to a thick tree. "Poison Sting, Weedle!"

"Supersonic!" Albert yells in a panic. Rings of yellow-white energy shoot from Ledyba's mouth. Little purple splinters shoot from Weedle's pearly white stinger.

The stingess shoot through the rings of energy and stab Ledyba almost everywhere. The rays strike Weedle and he tumbles back a little.

"Albert's Ledyba seems to be poisoned by Weedle's stingers! On other news, Liz from Violet wins above Wade from Violet," Bugsy MC's.

Now everyone's eyes are on Finn and Albert. "String Shot Ledyba's mouth shut," Finn commands.

Weedle instead squirms into a wall. "Hang on, Ledyba," Albert encourages. "Comet Punch the string!" Ledyba struggles under the String Shot until it finally breaks lose. With her six stubby arms, Ledyba flies to Weedle.

"Weedle, hear my voice. Focus on my voice!"

"Wee wee..." he replies. A huge _WHOOSH_ of air sends Weedle to the other side of the field.

"Poison Sting!" Finn screams.

At the last second Weedle yields his rear stinger. Ledyba, already hurting from the Poison Stings in her body, throws a fist at him.

"LEDYYYYYY!" she screams in agony and pain.

"No!" Albert howls.

"YES!" Finn screams.

Albert's Ledyba flies straight into the ceiling. Albert sprints to catch her.

"Clark from..." Bugsy looks at Finn.

"Um, Goldenrod." A bad lie, yes, but Finn isn't quick on his feet.

"Clark from Goldenrod wins above Albert from Azalea!" Cheering everywhere.

"Return, Weedle," Finn calls. _He's not so useless after all._

But instead of returning, Weedle shines a bright white. _Uh oh, _Finn thinks. _If he evolves, he actually _will_ be useless against Liz!_

A Kakuna stands in Weedle's place. "Awww," the crowd says admiringly.

_Evolve again evolve again evolve again..._

"Kaku!"

"Awww!" the crowd continues.

After Bugsy hands both Liz and Finn a Full Restore, they take their positions.

"Kakuna, don't fail me now!" The familiar red light erupts from the center button of Finn's Pokeball.

_I'm doomed..._


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello readers! I hope you liked the last chapter, I mean, I put a lot of effort into it. Feel free to leave reviews but make sure they're not totally harsh (i.e. words like annoying, terrible, etc.). Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

"Hey hey hey!" Bugsy exclaims. "What are you doing?"

"Finishing Round 2?" Finn replies. He thinks of it like a tournament. A small one, yes, but a tournament nonetheless.

"No, no. You guys misunderstood! Round 2 in only little battles! All winners receive one point, and that's that! The second part of Round 2, however, is much more interesting." Bugsy paints a devilish look on his face.

"Albert and Wade aren't ruled out, as you may think. They just don't get a point like Liz and Finn!" Bugsy explains to the crowd. "All four of them will participate in the next part, though. Azalea Town natives should know what I'm talking about, but those from far away, listen up! We will place the four contestants in Ilex Forest with their already-chosen bug Pokemon and they will have to find three markers before arriving at the ending point-at which point we'll fly you back to Azalea Town in a helicopter. Sound fun?"

The crowd goes wild. "Hey," Albert pushes Bugsy a little. "You expect us to survive out there?"

"Ilex Forest isn't as big as Kanto's Viridian Forest, and trust me, no where _near_ as scary as it, but it is still a maze and all prizes need a cause. Consider the cause for this one as: 'Please the hungry citizens of Azalea Town.' Are we good?" The four teens look at the floor. "Good. Lets go."

Bugsy takes out a remote and presses one of the buttons. The back wall lights up, like a TV. Several parts of the forest are on the screen.

_How did he afford a wall-sized screen? Bugsy isn't just a normal gym leader,_ Finn thinks as they walk to the entrance of Ilex Forest. His temporary Kakuna friend starts to get all jittery around the forest.

"What's going on?" Finn asks aloud. "Kakuna wants out."

"Heracross too!" Liz yelps. Her Pokeball flies out of her hand. Kakuna follows, then Ledyba and Paras. They all erupt from their Pokeballs, by themselves, and just sit in front of the forest.

"Bug Pokemon love it here," Wade says. He pets his Paras and walks to Bugsy's side. "They'll follow us in, right?"

"Of course they will. Now, you'll all get a different spot to start in. Liz and Heracross, follow me," Bugsy says. The three walk down the dirt path.

"Wow," Albert muses. "This is Ilex Forest? Where has it been all my life?"

Tall, thick-leafed trees sway back and forth with the strong winds above the forest. Their leaves are a variety of colors: Lime green, grass green, forest green, spring green, even olive in some of the places where sunlight doesn't reach. The trees extend across the path, leaves continuously falling in a steady pace. Yes, there are winds around Ilex Forest, but inside, nothing. The trees reflect the wind away from their cove, keeping a totally calm place with not a single breeze.

Bugsy arrives without Liz and this time takes Wade and Paras down a different way. Finn leans against the thick trunk of one tree, falling into the leaves just slightly.

_Rustle, _a Caterpie makes while squirming into a bush. _Rustle rustle,_ a Butterfree and Beedrill make as they fly together through the thick trees, somehow managing to fly in between all the sticking-out leaves and occasionally thorny branches.

Bugsy finally comes to take Finn. He picks up the Kakuna and follows Bugsy down a third path. "Will we all have the same chances of making it to the ending point and whatnot?" Finn asks in his best clueless voice.

Obviously he helped Liz. That thought came to Finn quickly.

"Of course you will. Over here, this spot." Bugsy points at a speaker looped through some branches. "See that? Wait over by it."

Bugsy leaves Finn and his Pokemon.

"What do you think, Kakuna? You think that he cheated by helping Liz out?" Finn asks the yellow cocoon.

"Kaku. Kaka naku," he purrs.

A glitchy sound erupts from the speaker. Finn steps back a little.

_RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE_

The teen nearly drops Kakuna as he feels a presence lurking behind him.

A glitchy Bugsy voice comes from the speaker. "Okay Wade, Liz, Albert, and Clark. I expect the challenge to take somehere around-uh oh. I released some of my tougher Pokemon into Ilex Forest on accident. If anyone remembers the way back to the entrance, hurry back. The Pokemon is big and red, with pincers, and is about the size of a tall-ish human. Hurry back."

"Scizorrr!" a metallic voice screams. Finn shoots down the path and takes a sharp right, this time dropping Kakuna for real.

Heavy wings seem to flutter at the speed of sound towards him. Finn quickly picks up Kakuna and sprints down the dirt, but not long until another sharp turn overpowers him.

"Kakuna, Poison Sting that bug!" Finn yowls at the top of his lungs. He stops for a breather and sets Kakuna on a large leaf.

The splinters of poison bounce right off the beast, harmless. "What?! Is it steel or something?"

"Yup!" a feminine voice agrees as she jumps in front of the beast. "Heracross, Arm Thrust!"

Liz's Heracross jumps onto the steel Pokemon calling itself Scizor and whacks it across the face a few times.

"C'mon Clark! Grab your Pokemon!" Liz says and runs farther down the path.

"What's happening?" Finn says as he catches up to his sprinting accomplice.

"Bugsy wants one of the contestants caught. They're apparently wanted in Kanto after running away. The Scizor was probably just a diversion for something bigger." She takes a left and stops. "But I'm not sure if he is in Ilex Forest with us or if he was already ruled out. Most likely the former."

Finn smells something fishy... What's she grabbing from her pocket...?

"String Shot her hands, now!" Finn exclaims. Kakuna follows his orders and shoot the silk across Liz's arms. She sticks to a broken-down tree stump.

"You ass!" she yells in frustration.

"This whole time you and Bugsy were trying to take me back to Kanto?!" Finn says. "Shame, woman, shame."

"I wasn't in on it with Bugsy, you dope!" she smugly says.

"Kaku!" the cocoon warns.

Finn dives to the ground and Kakuna catapults into the air. A Stun Spore flies right past Finn. "Kakuna!" the fugitive cries out.

The cocoon floats down to the ground, now shed. A Beedrill floats in the air.

"Use Stun Spore on the Beedrill," Wade commands. His trusty steed shoots unusually yellow spores at Finn's new Beedrill.

"Dodge them," Finn says while propping himself up on a different stump.

"Heracross, where are you?!" Liz screams aloud.

"String Shot her mouth shut," Finn orders.

"Poison Powder him while he's distracted!" Wade counters. The silk tapes the girl's mouth closed, but Finn's too late to say anything else.

The purple spores latch onto Beedrill. "No~!"

Beedrill breaks free from the spores in a matter of seconds.

"Oh wait," Finn remembers.

"He's poison!" Finn and Wade say in unison, Wade of course being more disappointed than amused.

"Fury Attack the Paras, Beedrill!" Finn stands up and shoves Wade into a bushy tree as his poison bee Pokemon handles Paras.

"Why do you two want me so badly? Do I have a reward placed over my head?!" Finn screams into Wade's face. "Was it Earl?!"

"That's right, Finn Irving, and with your poor momma so depressed, your step-dad owns your life. And he is willing to pay _100_ _platinum_ Pokedollars for you back in Kanto, which means you can't trust anybody." Wade's eyes fill with chaos.

Finn looks over at the Pokemon fight. With Paras nearly fainted, Finn declares, "Stop, Beedrill. He was just listening to Wade."

"Mmm-mm!" Liz screams under the silk.

Wade smiles devilishly. He kicks Finn backwards, onto Beedrill, and grabs Paras from the ground. With its claws, the bug catcher slices Liz's mouth trap.

"HERACROSS!" she screams into the forest. "HERACROSS!" Odd noises come from nearby in the forest.

"Stun Spore, now!" Wade exclaims. Beedrill shoves Finn to the side and embraces the yellow spores.

"Beedrill!" Finn cries.

"Bee bee!" he replies. "DRILL!" Finn runs down one of the paths, a small smile on his face. Even as a bad guy, running away and all, friendship still finds its way.

"Stun Spore, Paras! Now now now!" he screams. Finn's footsteps disappear into the rustling Pokemon noises. His hand slaps Paras across the head. "You stupid piece of-my apologies. Paras, I release you into the forest. Go, before I kick you." Wade watches as the Paras walks away sadly.

"It's all up to Albert now," Liz grumpily states as Wade slices the remaining silk with a sharp branch. "Now what to do with this Beedrill...?"


	4. Chapter 3

**And this is chapter three! I hope the last chapter wasn't too confusing, but PM me if you are confused. And of course, feel free to leave reviews**

Chapter 3

Finn's footsteps echo through Ilex Forest rather loudly, worrying him. _Would they go after me? _he ponders.

Even though the runner's thoughts tell him that they always will be after him, for once he overlooks his paranoia. With a huge wad of Pokedollars over his head, the paranoia isn't misplaced, but he has let it control him. One of the prevailing moments was the Azalea Contest.

He takes a left and pauses for a brief moment, allowing some of the fresh air to enter his lungs. Finn can hear, just barely, the sound of stealthy footsteps. What with running for a few weeks, pointing out usually unnoticeable things has become one of his talents.

Then breathing. It remains slow and steady, most likely so the creature could strike at any given moment. Finn recognizes the breathing patterns to be inhuman because the way it sometimes would stop breathing altogether to stay hidden, something that he's never heard of in the many people who have hunted him down.

A thick, insectoid arm reveals itself through some of the branches the refugee looks through. _Heracross._

Finn moves back a little further, almost immediately halted by a thin tree. It has few branches, and the ones that do grow from its trunk are slender with barely any leaves.

The bug Pokemon could also hear breathing. His duty is to keep the tall boy from escaping, something that he can easily do if the boy remained unconscious.

_WHISH! _Heracross's arm is thrown after he leaps in front of Finn's hiding spot. Thorny branches slice right in between his two claws.

"That must've hurt," a male voice wonders behind Heracross. Albert walks to his side, Ledyba flapping her wings in a blur to his right. "Where'd he go?"

The blue Pokemon points at the slender tree with his uninjured claws, where a large object weaves itself around tight trees and their thick mid-brush.

Albert looks at Heracross, disappointed. "You're a freaking _bug_ and you can't move through a few leafy trees? Comet Punch, girl." Ledyba zooms around Albert and sends four punches to his face, knocking him into the dirt path. Albert follows Finn through the trees, his Ledyba flying up, promising to meet him there.

**BREAK**

Finn emerges to the other side of the forest. Even in this dire situation he wonders. _Has anyone even done this before? Surely I'm not the first one._

With the coast being so close, Finn can smell the ocean and its wet sand. He has no idea where he is, not the slightest idea, so he'd better find out soon or Liz's Heracross will have already made him cop meat.

Left? Or right? Branches being shifted into new places snap him back into escape mode, his slow-thinking reputation exploding from within him.

Until somebody decides for him.

A punch sends him skidding left. He manages to get a glance of an adorable little face flying above him.

"Ledy," she growls. This is her revenge after being humiliated by his Weedle.

Albert appears from the forest with a few thorns in his arms, but nothing major. He pricks one from his arm and leans down to Finn's level. "Hey, friend." Albert shoves the thorn into Finn's wrist. It strikes an artery as if it's Albert's job, forcing blood out.

"I heard that arteries are one of the most dangerous things to puncture in the human body-right next to the heart and brain, of course? If you were to dig the thorn deep enough..." Albert puts more pressure against the thorn, burrowing it further into his wrist.

Finn remains semi-conscious, not able to process everything happening quick enough. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused for Liz, Wade, Don, and me? Way too much. But finally, the money is approaching us." Albert pauses to call Ledyba to him. "And at a considerably fast pace."

Finn can only manage to look at his waist while laying down, so his punctured wrist is easily seen. The thorn is an olive green, more on the brown side. Despite its size, the thorn seems to dig down deep. Does it have poison on it? Could it cause hallucinations to the point where he wouldn't be able to tell if it was a thorn in his wrist, or a freaking sword?

"Confuse him," Albert orders.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Finn snarls. He pricks the thorn from his wrist and throws it at Albert. The youngster has barely just enough time to push his hand in front of his face. The olive thorn, living up to its reputation, digs deep. Ledyba floats next to him, shocked.

"Supersonic!" Albert howls. The familiar yellow-white rings of energy erupt from the ladybug's mouth. She locks onto her target and keeps it up. This is going to be her leader's revenge.

Finn grabs his wrist to slow the enormous amount of blood flow. The Supersonic is just slow enough for him to roll to his left, then get up in the little amount of time there is and run like hell.

And that's exactly what he did. Albert yields his Ledyba in his hand, now forcefully commanding her, and runs after the refugee. This is his only hope. Liz and Wade failed in Albert's best field of work.

And he knows that the prize is worth a lot of money. Hell, 100 platinum Pokedollars are enough to supply his whole family with food for an apocalypse, than have enough to supply Liz and Wade's whole family with food for an apocalypse. Than have enough to supply _twenty_ more families, extended families, that is, with the exact same thing.

But Albert is greedy. This money could kick-start his dream to become a world-class bounty hunter. A far-off dream, yes, but a possible one nonetheless. At least with this money.

So Albert decides to do it. No one even cares about Finn, Albert reasons with himself. His mom is already in a depressive state and his step-father couldn't care less. The only reason he wanted Finn back was so his wife could get out of her state and they could begin loving each other again.

The young boy yanks a Pokeball out of his pocket and hands it to Ledyba. "Throw this at his head," he orders. "You're fast enough."

"Ledy?" she asks, not understanding. What would happen if she listened?

"Just do it, okay? And I'll think about evolving you." Albert understood right away that she just wanted to evolve, back in Azalea, so hopefully the slightest temptation would set her off.

She nods reluctantly. Albert finally stops to rest, keeping his eyes on the Pokemon holding a Pokeball. That, by no means, is how it's supposed to work, but now he has no choice.

Finn keeps holding his left wrist, not allowing himself to become woozy on a high-speed chase like this. The sound of fluttering wings starts to approach him.

Ledyba doesn't know what's going to happen, nor does she want to, but evolution is all she's really wanted. Now is not the time to give up. She flutters just behind Finn, a hard person to catch up to, and yields the ball.

It seems to move very slowly at first-right up until halfway. A knife emerges from the center circle, followed by countless other knifes scattered randomly around it.

"Ledy!" she howls in warning. With so much more coast in front of them, and Ilex Forest to their left, Finn has no time to escape. Ledyba immediately feels bad about her deed.

She is going to kill Finn Irving.

The spiked up Pokeball is two seconds away from piercing his skull when the brain it holds finally decides to do something smart.

He jumps left, into the trees. One of the longer spikes scrape against Finn's ear skin. He rolls through the less dense trees and eventually halts near the end of the now bushes. Azalea Town lies in front of him.

Finn doesn't know what it was, though he does rule out the possibility of adrenaline pumping his blood so fast that it felt like it broke his heart. That _is_ what it felt like, but his brain seemed to kick all of the paranoid storm clouds blocking his natural thoughts out.

And a plan forms itself from thin air. _The Egg,_ he understands. _I have to steal the Egg and travel north. Goldenrod isn't the best idea, but just passing through won't be a problem. Then Ecruteak, move west than south, down to Olivine, and hightail it to Hoenn._

Finn stealthily moves from the bushes to the gym. What with everyone being inside the gym, probably getting a speech of how Bugsy _accidentally _released his giant Scizor into the contest area, Finn needn't be so stealthy. The Egg is only in the lobby, aka Bugsy didn't want anyone touching it while they were inside his actual gym. Two Slowpoke guard it.

_They might be stupid, but they're still psychic type and could easily float me against the ceiling really hard. Or against the wall. Maybe a distraction..._

Finn ponders his choices for a second, but a loud moving-through-leaves noise comes from the trees near the gym. _Better hurry._

**BREAK**

"Slowpoke slow?" one of the Slowpoke asks the other Slowpoke. The gym door just stayed open. Being an automatic, it meant someone is near it.

"Poke!" the second one declares. They walk, single file, to the door. Something moves in the trees just ahead. "Slo po!" he screeches. The female Slowpoke uses a simple Confusion as they scurry together to the bush area.

Finn peers around the corner of the gym, both Slowpoke whipping a large living thing in the bushes. Albert deserves that.

"Hey! You stupid Slowpoke, I'm a contestant!" Albert growls.

Finn makes an effort to remain silent. Just the slightest noise and Bugsy will throw Pokeballs containing poison bugs at him.

Meanwhile, Bugsy explains the false situation with the competition. "So, you see, everyone can go home now. The competition is cancelled and I've been informed that the contestants are already on their way here." Disappointed murmurs echo across the room.

"Poke poe slop!" The door from the lobby to the actual challenging room bursts open, a dazed Slowpoke emerging.

"What is it?" Bugsy says, now worried. He runs to the lobby, finding an empty cushion and a youngster pinned against the wall with a Confusion.

"P-Please! I didn't do anything! The Egg would be with me if I did anything, too!" Albert screams in protest.

"Stop it, Susan," Bugsy instructions, calling her by her given name. Now to Albert: "What happened?"

Albert tries his best innocent face. Shouldn't Bugsy already know that he was after Finn too?

"It was Fi- I mean, Clark. He brought me hostage here and threw me into the bushes, then stole the Egg. The man's evil!"

_I know,_ Bugsy thinks. _I know._


End file.
